


The Red-Faced Man

by HopefulNebula



Category: Le Petit Prince | The Little Prince - Saint-Exupéry
Genre: Community: lgbtfest, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-30
Updated: 2010-05-30
Packaged: 2017-10-09 19:27:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/90727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopefulNebula/pseuds/HopefulNebula
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While he was on Earth, the little prince also found a man wearing a three-piece suit. He had a round, red face, and he held a large sign and a clipboard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Red-Faced Man

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Краснолицый человек](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2772269) by [Седьмая Вода (orphan_account)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%B4%D1%8C%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%8F%20%D0%92%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B0)
  * A translation of [L'homme avec le visage rouge](https://archiveofourown.org/works/90719) by [HopefulNebula](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopefulNebula/pseuds/HopefulNebula). 



> Written for [lgbtfest](http://community.livejournal.com/lgbtfest/). I ended up challenging myself to do it in French first -- the French version is [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/90719).
> 
> Thank you to everyone who helped and encouraged me (especially [](http://snow.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**snow**](http://snow.dreamwidth.org/)): without your help, this story would not exist.

While he was on Earth, the little prince also found a man wearing a three-piece suit. He had a round, red face, and he held a large sign and a clipboard.

"Hello," said the little prince.

"Hello," said the man.

"What is this?" the little prince asked, looking at the sign.

"It is my sign," the man replied. "I'm protecting marriage."

The little prince regarded the man, and asked "what is this _marriage_?"

The red-faced man blinked at the little prince. His face lost its color, and his voice became soft. He didn't respond for an interminable moment.

"You... you don't know what marriage is?"

"No."

"Not at all? Your parents aren't married? Nobody taught you...?" the man asked.

"No. I come from another planet," the little prince said.

"That's impossible! Earth is the only planet with life. I would know if astronomers had discovered life on other worlds."

The little prince looked at the man and asked:

"But I exist, and I come from another planet, so it must be true. What does it mean, this _marriage_?"

The red-faced man thought for a moment. "Marriage is a sacred union of love and friendship between a man and a woman."

"Sacred?"

"Blessed by God. Something sacred is a little of the divine on Earth. Do you really come from space?"

"Yes, it's true. I am not a liar," the little pirnce responded.

"Okay. Tell me, then, a little about life where you're from. How does your society work? Here, marriage plays a large part in our society's foundation.

The little prince was surprised; the geographer had wanted information about his home as well, but the little prince thought the red-faced man was more sincere than the geographer.

"There are three small volcanos, but only two of them are active, and I have a flower who talks with me and I take care of her. There are caterpillars there, and--"

This was when the red-faced man interrupted the little prince.

"But where are your parents? Your family?"

"I have no family," the little prince replied.

"None at all?"

"None at all. It is why I have come to Earth," the little prince said. "I would like to know how you live your lives here. Why is marriage so important? What does it do?"

The red-faced man seemed surprise. The little prince thought that maybe nobody had asked him these questions before.

"It is important because it is traditional, and a crucial part of our history. When you get married, you become part of another family, and you create a new family. With marriage, you gain legal rights -- you can make medical and financial decisions for your new family, and you can be protected if your husband or wife falls ill. From the beginning of history, marriage has existed between a man and a woman, and now there are forces that threaten it," he said finally.

"What forces? What are they doing?"

"There are people who want to marry people of the same sex," the red-faced man replied. "They want us to tolerate these homosexual marriages and give them the same priveleges as real marriage."

"Ah," said the little prince. "And this is bad?"

"Yes, of course. Without the sanctity of marriage, our society would fall apart."

"Why?"

"Because tradition and habits are important parts of our history. Like a tree needs roots to survive storms, people need traditions if we want to survive the tempest of modern life. Marriage, family, religion... it is crucial that we preserve these institutions, because without them, we could never survive."

The little prince listened. Perhaps, he thought, this is all I need? Roots? My flower has roots, and I have abandoned her...

But before he could continue his thoughts, he spoke.

"So you want to deprive others of these roots? Of the same rights you have?"

The red-faced man looked stupefied.

"No, no, of course not!" he said. "It's not at all like that. Here, everybody has equal rights. Everybody can marry someone of the opposite sex. If we change this now, the foundation of our society will crumble, and I fear the damage will be irreparable. It's a question of quality of life. I refuse to live in a world wihtout morality! Morality is the most important thing: more than family, more than government, even more than identity."

"But how is it equal if you can create a family with someone you love, and they cannot?"

"No!" shouted the red-faced man. "It's not at all like that, I already told you! I'm not a bigot! At any rate, love like that isn't real, so they want special rights, not equal rights!"

They are so strange, these humans, thought the little prince. They can believe two contradictory things so easily...

"I have a flower who I love," said the little prince. "I take care of her. I protect her from caterpillars and wind. I came to earth looking for a sheep that would eat baobabs but not my dear flower. If she were male, I would love her all the same. Her sex does not matter to me. And if I find someone I love on Earth, his sex would not matter to me either. I may come from another planet, but I have learned that love is love, and it doesn not matter who you love. I still have much to learn, but I am certain of this. I have come to earth to find a friend, but your mission is the opposite."

The little prince paused for a moment, and added before the red-faced man could speak:

"Friendship and love are strange to me, the same as for you. But we are different. I am searching for them to make them grow, and you are looking to extinguish them."

The red-faced man was quiet. The little prince looked at him, his eyes open wide. They stayed in this position for several seconds, and the red-faced man finally turned and left in silence.


End file.
